You may not have heard – in fact, you almost certainly didn’t – unless you live in Pope County, Arkansas, but just before 8 a.m. this morning, December 9, an explosion rocked the Arkansas Nuclear One power plant. Only later in the day did a few news wires pick up the story, relaying virtually nothing about it, only giving the official word that the fire was “contained.”

Pope County 911 operators confirmed calls came in reporting this explosion, but have not released details about the explosion or subsequent fires. Firefighters were dispatched and fires at the site were confirmed by the department, and by photos taken by residents near the site. Newswire reports tended to stay away from these local photographs, utilizing safe-looking stock images instead. Local Arkansas stayed far away from actual images of the site, using stock images as well to project the image that the fire was minor.

One resident said otherwise. They reportedly heard a “loud, ground shaking explosion and then saw smoke.” The fire was massive.
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The Atomic Age is an ongoing project that aims to cultivate critical and reflective intervention regarding nuclear power and weapons. We provide daily news updates on the issues of nuclear energy and weapons, primarily though not exclusively in English and Japanese via RSS, Twitter, and Facebook. If you would like to receive updates in English only, subscribe to this RSS.

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The artwork in the header, titled "JAPAN:Nuclear Power Plant," is copyright artist Tomiyama Taeko.

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